quickbread Archives - dani california cooks

If you’ve been searching for a classic pumpkin loaf recipe, look no further! This moist quickbread is full of warming pumpkin spices and sweet chocolate chips. I’m drooling as I write this!

I know what you’re thinking- “really? another pumpkin recipe?” And while we’ve certainly moved on from Pumpkin Spice Latte season to Eggnog Latte season (yup, Starbucks is making these now…) I definitely think that it still appropriate to consume pumpkin in all forms. I have made a variety of pumpkin breads and muffins, and this is by far the best recipe ever. I am looking forward to going back to this post throughout the winter months to use this when baking - I’m glad its documented! Shoutout to HomeSweetJones for providing the pumpkin bread inspiration. This recipe came about when I knew I was traveling to Cambodia for Thanksgiving. I knew I wanted to bring a taste of the holiday to Phnom Penh for Nate and I to enjoy. Turkey certainly wouldn’t travel well for the 20+ hour trip…neither would pie or mashed potatoes. The only cooked items that seem to travel well over time are baked goods (and PB&Js). So that’s when I knew - Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Mini Loaves it was! I didn’t want to bring a gigantic loaf with me to Cambodia - pretty sure we wouldn’t eat it all - so I decided to make mini loaves for the cuteness factor and ease of travel. Baking in these small amounts also leads to a really nice texture in the breads itself. I also told Nate I wasn’t going to “healthify” the recipe. He’s definitely sampled his fair share of healthified recipes from myself and his mom, so I just wanted to bake something really classic for our mini Thanksgiving. Also, I’m not a great baker and wanted to make sure this recipe was foolproof, and it is! You mix your dry ingredients, and then your wet ingredients, and then you stir in two cups of chocolate chips and divide among your mini loaf pans. I think what makes this recipe better than all chocolate chip pumpkin bread recipes out there is the spice. You add about 4 tbsp of pumpkin spice to the batter and that mixed with the pureed pumpkin and chocolate chips is to. die. for. I poured the batter very close to the top off these mini loaf pans, and that’s why I was only able to fit five. However, if you leave more than a half inch at the top of your mini loaf pans when you pour in the batter, you will definitely be able to fit six. I ended up making a half dozen mini muffins out of the rest of the batter left over, which my brother promptly ate for breakfast. They take a considerable amount of time to bake - around an hour - and your house will smell heavenly. I packaged up two of these loaves in saran wrap (wow - I’ve been spelling that syran wrap all along) and some foil, and tucked them in tightly into my suitcase. Upon arrival in Phnom Penh, Nate and I made our way back to our hotel for some R&R and pumpkin bread. I have to say, this spicy, chocolate-y pumpkin bread held up wonderfully throughout the travels and we enjoyed several slices right away, and nibbled throughout it throughout the vacation for a little Thanksgiving spirit all the way in Southeast Asia. I gave Nate the other loaf I had brought for his enjoyment after I left, and he sent me several snapchats looking like he was making serious headway finishing it off himself. I hope you haven’t given up on pumpkin yet this season, and incorporate this recipe into your holiday baking this season!

Classic Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

60 mins

Total time

1 hour 10 mins

You'll never need another chocolate chip pumpkin bread recipe again - this one is spicy, sweet, moist and full of chocolate chips!

Author: Dani California Cooks

Serves: 6 mini loaves

Ingredients

1 15 oz can pumpkin (I used Trader Joe's brand)
3 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable or coconut oil
4 eggs
⅔ cup water
3½ cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
4 tsp pumpkin spice
pinch of salt
2 cups chocolate chips!!!!

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
In a large mixing bowl, mix together all dry ingredients except chocolate chips
In a separate mixing bowl, mix together all wet ingredients
Fold in wet ingredients into dry bowl
Using a whisk, beat mixture until smooth
Fold in chocolate chips
Grease your loaf pans and pour, leaving about an inch at the top. These babies will rise!
Pop them in the oven for 45-55 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean
Take out of the oven and let cool
Enjoy!

Notes

The bake time will definitely depend on how much batter you put in each loaf pan - mine were pretty dense and took almost an hour, even though they were mini loaves

If you want to bake these as muffins, they will only take 20-25 minutes. My little extra muffins turned out wonderfully light and fluffy!

If you want to bake in one large loaf pan, I'm guessing this will take anywhere from 60-75 minutes to bake

This wholesome quickbread is super moist, has wonderful texture and flavors, and photographs SO BADLY. I must have tried a couple of different lightings, backdrops and settings and I really could not capture the loveliness that is this loaf. We had a bunch of extra apples lying around that were starting to look kind of sad, and I wanted to make use of them with the ingredients that I already had in my kitchen. This recipe comes together so easily in one mixing bowl, and then you can enjoy the way your house smells of apples and cinnamon as it sits in the oven. So, let’s ignore the less-than-stellar headshots of this baked good. If this quickbread showed up on your Tinder app, you would be closing off a world of possibilities if you swiped “no” to the left. Swipe right, friends, swipe right!

So now that that analogy was made and published in the blogosphere, let’s talk about the ingredients of this recipe. Dry ingredients are simple - whole wheat flour, lots and lots of cinnamon, baking soda and powder, and your nut of choice. I went with pecans, but I would highly recommend walnuts. Then add your wet ingredients - freshly grated apples, one egg, a touch of maple syrup and some applesauce and vanilla. Note that this bread dough will be pretty thick, and almost knead-able. I was worried that it would come out dry when I originally whipped it together, but I can assure you that it was not. I can’t wait to pair it with the Vanilla Apple Butter recipe that Huckleberry Cafe had posted on it’s walls that I previously mentioned!

This bread would be wonderful covered in peanut butter and banana for breakfast, or a small slice with some tea in the afternoon. It’s great to grab a nibble here and there while you are cooking other things! It also makes a wonderful gift - I packaged half of this loaf and delivered it to my grandma. She was quite hesitant when I told her there was no butter and oil (and also told me that I didn’t need to bring over so many “healthy” recipes. I think I need to take the hint and use this as an excuse to make something decadent. Any grandma dessert ideas? Please pass along!) She still gave this recipe a thumbs up, as do I.

Whole Wheat Apple Harvest Cinnamon Quickbread

This easy whole wheat quickbread includes lots of freshly grated apples and cinnamon. It is moistened with no oil or butter,,just applesauce!

Author: Dani California Cooks

Serves: 1 loaf

Ingredients